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Institute For Humane Studies

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Institute For Humane Studies reviews

3.3

49% would recommend to a friend

(45 total reviews)
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Emily Chamlee Wright

78% approve of CEO

56% positive business outlook

Institute For Humane Studies has an employee rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on 45 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Institute For Humane Studies employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Nonprofit & NGO industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

45 reviews
1.0
Aug 27, 2018

Toxic Senior Leadership

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are a lot of opportunities to develop intellectually and learn about the ideas from an expert rather than from a book directly.

Cons

The leaders of IHS, at their best, lack empathy. And I mean that about every single member of the leadership team- even those who are perceived as above the fray. At their worst, leadership purposefully promotes a toxic culture that pits individuals against each other, elevates paranoia to an extreme level, and makes it seem like petty gossip without context is ok. I have experienced this first hand. As almost every review has mentioned, you will only climb the ladder at IHS if you're a yes man and, even then, your favor may not last long. IHS has taught me a valuable lesson in how not to treat people and that is something that I will take with me throughout the trajectory of my career so, in some twisted way, I am grateful to them. That said, some of the most dehumanizing experiences of my life were the result of working at IHS and I will feel the impact of it for years to come. My advice to young libertarians hoping to have an impact on the movement: look elsewhere... for your own personal wellbeing. The reviews here are not wrong.

2.0
Aug 24, 2018

Liberty should not be cliquey

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Colleges and universities are shot-thru with leftist professors who preach their odious notions of brutal identity politics, latte Marxism, "gender" fluidity and misanthropy as if they had an invisible gun pointed at their heads. Worse, these tie-dyed jackboots have honed the skill of black-balling conservatives, or traditionalist scholars, or classical liberal scholars who dare to challenge them. They have totally cowed the feckless army of administrators with their threats of publicity and their Title IX inquisitions. It's poisonous. It's how we got Trump. Into this hellscape steps the IHS, with its noble goal of helping classical liberal scholars join academia, attain tenure, standing, respect, and influence on their campuses to restore college to its rightful role as a place for open inquiry, experiments with ideas, civil discourse and learning to be an adult.

Cons

As all the reviews have said, IHS lets down its mission through massive turnover, ensuring that institutional knowledge never grows. Their well-discussed "purges" show that they do not manage people well. The best become alienated, and those who don't buss the right derrières wind up on the purge list. The Russians and the North Koreans are like that, too. Not a great model to follow when you have Milton Friedman quotes plastered on the walls.

2.0
Jul 31, 2018

5th restructure in a year...

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Strong network, storied history, principled board, and a selection of the most intelligent, curious, and interesting talent in the DC area (at least for now). It could be a great organization if leadership would set clear goals, get out of the way, and let individual teams achieve.

Cons

The most dysfunctional organization I've ever encountered by far. The federal government is more efficient. Leadership is not on the same page about the vision, strategies, and objectives of the organization, and as a result they push their miscommunication and disagreement down to lower staff - causing unnecessary conflict and stress across the organization. Expect back to back meetings all day, every day - but the only way to actually get things done is through gossip and back-channels. The organization has restructured at least 5 times in the past 18 months, and has seen high turnover of senior managers and long-tenured employees. The only way to survive in this environment is to stop caring, and become a yes man. Agreeableness is the only virtue valued.

Viewing 22 - 24 of 45 Reviews

Glassdoor has 50 Institute For Humane Studies reviews submitted anonymously by Institute For Humane Studies employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Institute For Humane Studies is right for you.